Tooele County School District Invitational See A6 TOOELETRANSCRIPT S T C BULLETIN S THURSDAY April 8, 2021 www.TooeleOnline.com Vol. 127 No. 90 $1.00 County February unemployment rate declines February 2021 unemployment rate lower than pre-pandemic 2020 TIM GILLIE was declared a pandemic and EDITOR businesses closed or cut back One year after a pandemic their workforce as they faced induced unemployment hike, health ordered closures and workforce statistics are paint- uncertainty. ing a picture of a state and By July 2020, the county’s county economy that is poised unemployment rate showed for growth, according to state signs of a slow recovery, reach- economic experts. ing 5.1%, almost half of April’s The statewide unemploy- peak rate. ment rate for February 2021 At the February 2021 was 3.0%. Tooele County’s unemployment rate of 3.7%, unemployment rate for there were 1,305 people unem- February 2021 was 3.7%, ployed in Tooele County. according to preliminary Unemployment insur- data from the Department of ance claims show that Tooele Workforce Services. County’s workforce may have The U.S. unemployment rate been one of the hardest hit by for February 2020 was 6.2%. the pandemic. One year ago, in February Since March 16, 2020, 2020, no cases of COVID-19 6,297 Tooele County workers KEITH BIRD/TTB PHOTO had been diagnosed in Tooele have filed an initial claim for Students gather outside Tooele Technical College on Thursday morning. Despite the pandemic, Tooele Tech has continued to experience enroll- ment growth. County. unemployment benefits. That The unemployment rate in amounts to 38% of the work- Tooele County in February force in Tooele County that 2020 was 4.1%. is covered by unemployment In April 2020, Tooele insurance. Only two counties County’s unemployment rate had a higher percent of their Tooele Technical College grows jumped to 10.1%, leaving workforce file unemployment 3,528 people in the county enrollment 77% in last 3 years unemployed, as COVID-19 SEE UNEMPLOYMENT PAGE A8 ® High school students and adults fueling growth in workforce training SCOTT FROEHLICH has accelerated the demand for more Hacking said. Grantsville rezone STAFF WRITER local training. As the influx of residents In addition to high school students Over the past four years, Tooele fills high schools in the area, Tooele filling the school’s classrooms, working- County’s technical college saw steady Tech is bracing itself for many upper age adults also account for a great deal growth in the amount of students seek- class students who are looking to get a of growth. While most of the residents referendum falls ing to further their careers. head start on certification training. work outside of Tooele County, Hacking Since the opening of its main cam- Since secondary students have access says Tooele Tech has a responsibility to pus in 2013, Tooele Tech’s membership to the technical college for free, more train students locally, but also those who short as signature hours doubled, with a 77% increase in enrollment growth is likely on the hori- will likely work “across the mountain.” the three years since 2018. zon. To facilitate this surge, the Tooele Paul Hacking, the school’s president, “Getting more juniors and seniors County School District helped Tooele attributes part of the recent growth to over the last few years, from the school deadline passes the county’s rise in population which district, has made a huge impact,” SEE INCREASE PAGE A8 ® Life’s Worth Living Walk to Wendover returns after pandemic cancellation FILE PHOTO CEILLY SUTTON STAFF WRITER Grantsville City rezoned approximately 155 acres east of Walmart Distribution Center between state Route 138 and Lincoln Highway for The longest suicide prevention walk in the commercial, mixed-use residential and other possibilities. Volunteers nation will kick off later this month in Tooele failed to collect enough signatures on a rezone referendum petition to County in memory of those lost to suicide and for put the rezone on a ballot for a public vote. those who struggle with suicidal thoughts. The Walk to Wendover was born out of a “crazy SCOTT FROEHLICH In a statement on the idea,” according to the father of the foundation STAFF WRITER Grantsville 411 Facebook page, that created the walk. Despite a coordinated effort sponsor Joei Jaterka expressed In 2016, Jon Gossett, founder of the Life’s from several residents, the ref- gratitude for those who were Worth Living Foundation, held an event for the erendum opposing Grantsville in support of the referendum. foundation and was hoping that members of the City’s Ordinance 2021-02 “I just wanted to say thank media would show up. failed to advance. you to the 600-plus people that However, the media was a no show for the The ordinance, which signed the referendum,” she event. rezoned 155 acres of land for said. “I was bummed that the media didn’t come Mountain Vista Development, “Unfortunately, we did not out,” said Gossett. “So, I told my wife that I was has faced a great deal of collect enough to put the 155- going to walk to Wendover to gain the attention backlash by Grantsville’s com- acre rezone on the next gen- of the media. My wife said it was crazy but we did munity. eral election [ballot],” Jaterka it. That year we did it with twenty people from Although the group amassed said. the foundation and of course the media showed over 600 signatures, the total Jaterka added that she up for it. I honestly didn’t think it was something fell short of the 1,950 that intends to keep on voicing that we would repeat but it has become our most FILE PHOTO Barbara Hansen celebrates as she finishes the second day of the first Walk to were required to include the concerns regarding the town’s Wendover, from Knolls to Wendover, hosted by Life’s Worth Living Foundation in measure on an upcoming bal- plans for developments and SEE WALK PAGE A8 ® April 2017. lot. other growth. BULLETIN BOARD B5 CLASSIFIEDS B6 Tourism grants HOMETOWN B1 CORONAVIRUS TRACKER approved OBITUARIES A5 See A3 SPORTS A6 Data as of April 7, 2021. Source: Utah Department of Health TOOELE COUNTY- Known Cases: 6,974 UTAH- Known Cases: 388,909 Hospitalizations: 213 • Deaths: 41 Hospitalizations: 15,698 • Deaths: 2,149 A2 TOOELE TRANSCRIPT BULLETIN THURSDAY April 8, 2021 Tooele City getting electric scooters had already entered into an City Council approves scooter agreement agreement with Bird Electric Scooters, but the agreement CEILLY SUTTON are operated by an app which needed to be approved by the STAFF WRITER users can download on their council. Tooele City is expecting phones to pay to use the scoot- If the agreement is electric scooters to arrive next ers. approved, Stewart said that month. Ogden, Provo, and Salt Lake Tooele City would receive 10 The scooter idea was pre- City have had electric scooters cents from every ride to pay for sented during the Tooele parked all over their towns for city improvements. COURTESY TOOELE CITY City Council meeting on some time now. The scooters cost $1 to Tooele City Council approved an agreement to provide scooters in Tooele City at their Wednesday night meeting. Wednesday evening by Jared Stewart reached out to the unlock so that the user can Stewart, economic coordinator. cities with scooters to find out ride them and then 15 cents limit assigned to them as well,” fleet manager first,” Stewart by May.” Stewart told members of the benefits and challenges of after per minute. Stewart also explained. “It’s said. “They will also need to The scooters will be here the council that Bird Electric having the electric scooters. Users of the scooters have 220 pounds.” go through a process with until at least May 1, 2022, per Scooters, a company that pro- “Some of the key takeaways to be 18 years old, because of Stewart said that if the us to restrict certain areas to the agreement. vides electric scooters to more from that are the cities haven’t risk and because the scooters council accepts the agreement enact specific requirements, At the end of the meeting than 100 cities worldwide, seen any accidents or injuries weigh over 38 pounds. between Tooele City and Bird like where the scooters can go all of the members of the city contacted Tooele City about a anymore than they have for A minimum of 50 scooters Electric Scooters, members of and the maximum speed of the council voted to approve the month ago wanting to bring bicycles,” said Stewart. will be provided to Tooele City, the community could expect to scooters. They could be here scooters. their scooters to town. Stewart explained to mem- according to the agreement. see the scooters very soon. in a few weeks or a month. I [email protected] The Bird Electric Scooters bers of the council that the city “They do have a weight “They will need to hire a would expect them probably Tooele Ready app promotes emergency preparedness and aftermath response CEILLY SUTTON For years before the app was “It’s important to have a plan STAFF WRITER created, the department had and to communicate that plan The Tooele Ready app, cre- used hard copy printed mate- to family,” Whitehouse said. ated by the Tooele County rials to educate and inform The second section in the Emergency Management citizens about emergency pre- app is called, “get a kit”. Department, provides users paredness, according to Bucky This section includes lists access tips for emergency pre- Whitehouse, Tooele County for an evacuation kit, sanita- paredness and offers tools for emergency management direc- tion kit, a vehicle kit, pet kit, emergency aftermath.